The Casers
by Sarahjane
Summary: A new batch of Space Cases arrives.
1. The First Day

DISCLAIMER: All recognizable characters are not mine. I took them from the TV show "Space Cases" without permission, but I am not using them for any kind of monetary gain.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Space Cases could not have been the only group of "Space Cases" to go through the Starcademy if the nickname "Space Cases" was so well known. Bearing that in mind, I created a new class of Space Cases. Enjoy!  
  
The Casers  
Part 1: The First Day  
  
Killian Collins tried not to concentrate on the dull throb in her back. The pain was a constant part of her life, but it hurt even worse than normal. She shifted slightly in the chair and tried to focus on what the principal was saying.  
  
"Due to your injury, Commander Collins, Stardog Command feels that it would be in your best interest if you did not return to active duty for a while. Until you are fit for duty, you will be assigned a teaching position here." She paused for a moment to peer at Commander Collins over the compupad in her hand. "Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am, that will be fine." In truth, she would rather do almost anything than teach, but if Admiral Cody said jump...Outloud she simply said, "What class will I be teaching?"  
  
Glancing down at the compupad, she said, "Room 42D." Looking up once more, she added, "I do not wish to throw you into this situation without warning, so I will tell you that this class contains several...unusual students who require a more...ah, personalized learning environment."  
  
Her mouth dropped open. "The Space Cases?!" she said incredulously.  
  
The principal frowned. "Despite the...label that others have given them, these students have to potential to become excellent Stardogs. They simply need a little more..."  
  
"...individual attention," she finished. "Yes, I've heard it all before."  
  
The principal smiled thinly. "Ah, yes, your...father, was it?"  
  
"Yes, my father taught here for many years." She couldn't help but continue. "Also, Commander Goddard told me of his experiences with his own class of Space Cases."  
  
As expected, the principal sniffed slightly at the mention of Commander Goddard. "Yes, well, hopefully you will have more success with your class than he did." She paused for a moment. "Now, why don't you go and meet your students?"  
  
Commander Collins stood up, ignoring the throbbing in her back. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I will do my best."  
  
"See to it that you do, Commander. Good day."  
  
Once she had left the office, Commander Collins rubbed the small of her back. It definitely wasn't going to be a good day.  
  
*****  
  
Commander Collins opened the door to her new classroom hesitantly and peered inside. All six students were already inside. She walked in and took a moment to study them.  
  
The tall, slender Earther boy with dark hair and eyes that were as black as space who sat at the back of the room on the right side was sixteen-year-old Gianluca Astrobello. Although his record indicated that he had "special educational needs", his IQ was off the charts, and his tests revealed that he certainly was not stupid; on the contrary, he was alarmingly intelligent, especially in engineering.  
  
The boy next to him was Zac, a seventeen-year-old Saturnian. All that his report had said was that he was "a natural leader" with "unresolved issues relating to the death of his brother seven years ago".  
  
Next to him sat a short, stocky boy with flaming red hair. Commander Collins knew that this must be Rich Cooper, an eighteen-year-old from the Martian colony. His report had been almost as thick as Gianluca's. He was "moderately intelligent" with "an unusually hostile disposition", and he often "manipulated others" and "bullied his peers". She was wary of him, but continued on to the next student.  
  
In front of Gianluca sat a tiny, slender girl with pale, almost transparent skin and large, luminous pale gray eyes. Her name was Arin, and she was a sixteen-year-old from the Lunar Colony. She appeared quite normal, but last month a teacher had found her sobbing hysterically after missing one question on a test. After that breakdown, the school thought it best to put her in this class for "special attention".  
  
Next to her was Zoe, a sullen-looking seventeen-year-old from Earth. While "extremely intelligent", Zoe "refused to work to the best of her potential" and "lacked motivation".  
  
Finally, a tall boy from Uranus completed the group. Barrett was seventeen, and he "worked well with others", "showed evidence of leadership skills", and "showed consideration for others' feelings". Unfortunately, he was also very stubborn and had gained immortality by arguing with Professor Kirpatrick for an entire hour as to whether or not plasma was a fourth state of matter. After that, he had been placed in the class for "showing a severe lack of respect".  
  
"Well," she began, "why don't you start by telling me a little bit about yourselves? Why don't you start, Gianluca?"  
  
There was no answer. Indeed, there was virtually no response. The boy's face remained completely unreadable.  
  
"Commander Collins," Arin called, waving her arm in the air, "Gianluca doesn't talk."  
  
Her eyes widened. "He...doesn't talk? Ever?"  
  
She nodded. "Yes, sir."  
  
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Then how does he get through school?"  
  
"He knows how to read and write, but he never talks. If you ask him a question in class, though, he can send you an answer from his computer."  
  
Walking over to her desk, Commander Collins saw that this was indeed true; the boy had sent her a message that contained his name, age, and home (New York City). She couldn't believe that the boy had managed to hack his way through the system--any access to teachers' files was restricted from the students.  
  
"Well," she said, "why don't you start then, Arin?"  
  
"Okay," the perky girl said. "I'm Arin, and I'm from Luna City. I'm sixteen years old, and I have four brothers and two sisters."  
  
There was a pause before the next student started up. "I'm Zoe. I'm seventeen, I'm from Chicago, and I don't want to be here, but my parents made me."  
  
"I'm Barrett, I'm from Uranus, and I don't have any brothers or sisters." He looked at her. "Do you want to know anything else about us?"  
  
She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Just tell me what you want me to know."  
  
"Okay." There was a long pause before he added, "I'm done."  
  
"I'm Rich Cooper, I'm from the Martian colony, and I have two older brothers."  
  
"I'm Zac, and I'm from Titan. Oh yeah, and my little brother was abducted."  
  
"Abducted? How?"  
  
"The government abducted him," Zac replied matter-of-factly. "They did it to silence my family, but the truth will come out!" Having said this, he sat down with a smile on his face.  
  
Commander Collins stared at the students numbly. One was cataconic. One was desperately perky. One was sullen. One was insubordinate. One was manipulative. And one was paranoid.  
  
Not bad, she told herself. It'll be okay.  
  
Outloud she said, "We will begin by discussing the origins of astronomy." She noticed that Zoe had rolled her eyes, Rich and Zac were hitting each other, Barrett looked like he was asleep, and Gianluca looked completely dead. Only Arin was listening attentively.  
  
It'll be a long year, she thought, rubbing the small of her back.  
  
*****  
  
"How are you, Kaci?"  
  
She smiled. "Okay, Seth. How about you?"  
  
"Not too bad," he said, sitting down beside her. "I only have another month of teaching."  
  
"Ironic, huh? A few years ago, I was in space, and you were teaching. And in another month, you'll be in space, and I'll be teaching."  
  
"You'll do fine, Kaci. Trust me. Speaking of which, how'd your first day go?"  
  
"I suppose it could have been worse," she said ruefully. "They're pretty...*unusual*, though."  
  
"Let's see who you've got," he said, taking a look at the class roster. "Hmm...Gianluca Astrobello, Arin Zimmerman, Zac, Rich Cooper, Zoe Pearson, and Barrett." He gave a low whistle. "Wow, those really *are* Space Cases."  
  
"Did you ever teach any of them?"  
  
"I taught Arin and Zac for a while. The others I just heard about from the other teachers."  
  
"Like T.J.?" There was an awkward silence. "Sorry, I guess that was a cheap shot."  
  
"T.J. and I are just friends, Kaci."  
  
"Like you and I were just friends on the Saratoga?" she asked, arching her eyebrows.  
  
"No, not like that." He smiled at her. "So, how's your back?"  
  
Automatically her hand rubbed the small of her back. "Fine, but your 'friend' Reever sure didn't make it any better."  
  
"You know I am sorry about that."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I didn't mean for you to fall like that...I thought that you'd fall before you got so high on that rope..."  
  
"Seth, trust me! It's okay. It was a long time ago."  
  
"Okay."  
  
There was silence for a moment.  
  
"You know I'm really sorry..."  
  
"Seth!"  
  
"...that you have to teach here."  
  
"Well, thanks."  
  
"You'll do fine."  
  
"Thanks. I hope so." She propped her head up on her hands. "It's going to be a long year." 


	2. Survival of the Fittest

Part 2: Survival of the Fittest  
  
"Did you see the list?" Commander Collins asked, setting her tray in front of him.  
  
"What list?" asked Commander Goddard.  
  
"The list of the people scheduled for the survival test."  
  
"Oh, you're on it, huh?"  
  
She nodded. "I have to go with the students on their survival test, and since I was off of active duty for a year, I have to go too."  
  
"Well, have fun," he smirked.  
  
"Oh!" She arched one eyebrow and smirked back. "You're going with me."  
  
"WHAT!"  
  
"You never bothered to get your mission status renewed," she said. "You have to go on the survival test this month or you can't be put on active duty."  
  
He groaned. "Do you like torturing me?" he moaned.  
  
"Oh come on, Seth. It's only three days. What could go wrong?"  
  
*****  
  
Rich Cooper groaned and threw his double-bladed super Swiss army pocket knife with laser into his pack. "I can't believe this is happening! Can life get any worse?"  
  
Zac looked up from his pack, in which he was putting the regulation first aid kit. "Rich!" he hissed. "He can hear you."  
  
"I don't care! I don't see why we have to get the zombie anyway."  
  
"We drew names fair and square," Barrett reminded him.  
  
"Besides," added Zac, "it's not like you'd be happy if you were in a different group."  
  
Rich glowered at him. "It's not my fault I'm in a class full of losers. Still, Gianluca! He's the weirdest."  
  
"Oh yeah right, I forgot," Zoe said sarcastically from the door, "you're totally normal."  
  
"Hey," Barrett said. "Are you and Arin ready to go?"  
  
"Hi!" Arin called, bouncing into the boys' room.  
  
"Guess that answers that," Zac muttered under his breath.  
  
"You are so not nice!" Arin said indignantly. "So, are you ready to go, Gianluca?"  
  
The others snickered. Everyone knew that Arin had a mad crush on Gianluca. Whether he liked her or not, though, was anyone's guess. He always ignored her. Then again, he ignored everyone.  
  
Now he closed his pack and sat down on his bed facing the wall. He didn't look at her or even seem to notice that she was there.  
  
"Well, have fun!" Arin said after a while. Sheepishly, she rejoined Zoe and the others. "I'm, um, going to go get something from the room."  
  
As she left, her pale cheeks burning pink, Zoe's brown eyes flashed with anger. She marched over to Gianluca.  
  
"You could be a little nicer to her," she snapped.  
  
He continued to stare at the wall.  
  
"Are you even listening to me?" she demanded. "You need to be nicer to Arin--to people in general, actually!"  
  
He stood up, picked up his bag, and walked out of the door.  
  
"Hello! I'm talking to you. Where are you going?" She followed him out of the room, still yelling at him. The others followed, mainly out of boredom, even Arin, whom Barrett dragged along when she stuck her head out of the door.  
  
Gianluca led them into the shuttlebay. An older cadet who was on duty there looked up at them. "Are you all ready to go?"  
  
They looked at each other. "Um, not exactly," Zac admitted. "We need to go get our stuff."  
  
"Okay, well, you'd better hurry up. The ship leaves in ten minutes."  
  
The students, except for Gianluca, ran back to grab their things. By the time they got back, their teacher, Commander Collins, and another teacher, Commander Goddard, were just getting there.  
  
"Hey Commander, what are you doing here? Is the government trying to silence you?" Zac asked Commander Goddard.  
  
Commander Goddard resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "No Zac, but my mission status is out of date, so I have to take the survival test too."  
  
"Neat!" Arin exclaimed. "Are you Commander Collins' partner?"  
  
"Yeah. What about you? Who's in your group?"  
  
"Well, Zoe, Barrett, and I are in one group, and Zac, Rich, and Gianluca are in the other."  
  
Commander Goddard gave Commander Collins a skeptical look. He didn't know any of them very well, but from what he had heard, putting Zac, Rich, and Gianluca together was like pushing a ship down a black hole and expecting it to come out the other side. She just shrugged.  
  
"Well, let's get going," he said, motioning the kids towards the ship. They boarded the Kobayashi and headed out of the Starcademy. As Commander Goddard flew the ship towards their destination, he recalled Kaci's last words to him. "What could go wrong?" he said aloud.  
  
*****  
  
"Well," Zac said, surveying the area that they had been assigned, "this can't be that bad."  
  
"Yeah right," Rich said.  
  
"We need to set up camp and find water," Zac continued, ignoring Rich. "Which would you like to do?"  
  
"Water, I guess," Rich said.  
  
"Okay. Gianluca and I will set up camp."  
  
Rich snorted. "Good luck getting the zombie to help you," he said as he headed off with a jug to find a stream.  
  
When he returned, he was surprised to see that everything was already done. An area was cleared of debris and a circle of stones lay in the center for a fire.  
  
Rich walked over towards Zac, who was making notes in their log. They would document everything so that they could be accurately graded on their performance. "Amazing. Camp actually got set up. Did the dummy help you?"  
  
"Rich..." he said warningly. "Did you get any water?"  
  
"Yeah. There's a stream nearby."  
  
"Good work. Hey, Gianluca, are you hungry? We should get some food."  
  
Rich flopped on the ground. "Not me. I had to lug that thing all the way over here."  
  
"Fine," he sighed. "I'll go find us something to eat."  
  
Once he was gone, Rich looked over at Gianluca. He was sitting on the ground and staring straight up at the clouds.  
  
"Hey dummy! What are you doing?" He sat up and stared at him. "HEY! DUMMY! WHAT! ARE! YOU! DOING!" He walked over to him. "Are you stupid or something? HEY!" he cried, kicking a rock at Gianluca.  
  
Gianluca continued to stare straight ahead.  
  
"Figures I get the zombie in my group," Rich grumbled, turning away. "This trip couldn't get any worse."  
  
*****  
  
"Rich! Rich, wake up!"  
  
Rich rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "What?"  
  
Zoe leaned over him. "Get up!"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You have to come. Get up quick!"  
  
"What's going on?" Zac asked, yawning. "It's the middle of the night."  
  
"You have to come quick."  
  
"Different teams aren't supposed to help each other, Zoe, you know that."  
  
Zoe's face gained her customary defiant expression. "Do you think I care about that right now? Arin's really sick. You guys have to help her."  
  
Zac jumped up. "Where is she?" he asked, pulling on his boots.  
  
"We camped over that ridge," she said.  
  
"Let's go."  
  
Zac and Rich ran after Zoe, their handlights leaving bouncing circles of light on the ground. They reached the other group's camp in record time.  
  
Zoe knelt by Barrett. He looked up at her blearily. "Did you get help?"  
  
"Hey Barrett," Zac said, crouching down beside them. "How is she?"  
  
"Not good. She started complaining of stomach pains a couple hours ago. We tried to make her feel better, but she just kept getting worse."  
  
Rich joined them around Arin. "What did you guys do for her?"  
  
"We gave her some painkillers and a muscle relaxant, but nothing helped. We tried to give her something to eat, but she threw it up. All she can keep down is water." Zoe looked worried. "She's burning up, but nothing seems to help."  
  
"Arin? Can you hear me?" Zac whispered.  
  
She moaned a little and covered her eyes from the light that they shone on her.  
  
"Arin, what's wrong?"  
  
"My stomach," she moaned weakly.  
  
"Where's the first aid kit?" Zac asked.  
  
"Here," Barrett handed it to him. "But I don't know what you can use in there that we haven't already tried."  
  
Zac rifled through it. "Let's see...poison remedies, sleeping pills, anti-inflammatories, pain killers, muscle relaxants...I don't see anything," he said, shaking his head.  
  
"Well we have to do something!" Zoe explained. "We can't just let her die!"  
  
"What should we do?" Barrett asked.  
  
"We could go get the teachers," offered Zac hesitantly.  
  
"What?" Rich exclaimed. "We'll fail the test!"  
  
"Oh, and letting Arin die will really save our grades!" said Zoe.  
  
"We don't even know where they are!" Rich shot back. "What do you want us to do, wander around in the woods all night!"  
  
"We have to do something!"  
  
"All right, you two, cool it," Zac said. "How did you find us, Barrett?"  
  
"I saw Rich at the stream," Barrett explained, "so I could tell Zoe where to look. I agree with Rich, though; we can't just run around blindly all night long. We should wait until tomorrow. We can send off an emergency flair."  
  
"What if Arin doesn't make it through the night?" demanded Zoe. "She's really sick!"  
  
"Could it be poisoning?" asked Zac.  
  
Barrett shook her head. "We all ate the same thing, and we checked it three times. It was safe."  
  
Zac paused for a while. "Let's send off a flair now," he said, "so that maybe they'll see it. If not, we'll send off another tomorrow morning."  
  
Rich reached for the emergency kit, but before he could light the flair, a beam of light fell on the group.  
  
"Are you kids okay?" Commander Collins asked.  
  
"Commander?" Zac asked incredulously.  
  
"What's going on here?" Commander Collins told them.  
  
"Arin's really sick," Barrett explained.  
  
Commander Collins knelt beside the girl. "She's burning up. We have to get her out of here."  
  
"How?" asked Zoe.  
  
Just then the Kobayashi landed near them. Goddard stepped out. "Is everyone all right?"  
  
"She's really sick, Seth," said Commander Collins.  
  
"Let's get her out of here, then."  
  
*****  
  
The students jumped up when Commander Collins left Arin's room.  
  
"What's happened?"  
  
"Is she okay?"  
  
"She's fine. The doctors said that she ruptured her appendix, but she should be okay."  
  
"What about the test?" Zoe hit Rich. "What?" he demanded. "I for one would like to know whether or not we passed, as I'm sure Arin would when she wakes up."  
  
"Well, the principal and the Survival instructor reviewed what happened. I told them as much as I knew. I said that Arin became ill, and, because Zoe and Barrett couldn't help her, so they asked Zac, Rich, and Gianluca for help. Zac and Rich went with her, and Gianluca went to get Commander Goddard and myself."  
  
"Gianluca got you?" asked Zac.  
  
"Yes." She looked at him curiously. "Did you wonder how I found you?"  
  
"Well yeah, but we were all so worried, I didn't really think about it," Zac admitted. "What happened next?"  
  
"Well, I went out to find you guys. Luckily, Zoe, Barrett, and Arin's camp was closest. I knew where you were, of course, as a safety measure. Anyway, Seth--Commander Goddard, that is, told me that Gianluca ran to the ship and started up the engines. Commander Goddard got in the ship, and Gianluca programmed the autopilot to take them over to us."  
  
The others stared at each other. "He did that?"  
  
"Yeah. You guys should thank him. The doctor said that he probably saved Arin's life. If she hadn't gotten medical attention immediately, she could have died." She looked around. "Where is he?"  
  
They shrugged. "We haven't seen him since we docked."  
  
"Well, why don't you go on in? She's asleep, but you can see her."  
  
They filed in silently and stared down at Arin. She looked even paler and smaller than normal on the infirmary bed. But she was breathing slowly and evenly, and she looked peaceful.  
  
"Hey Arin," Zac said.  
  
"Hey. How are you doing?" asked Barrett.  
  
"The doctor says you should be all right," added Rich.  
  
"I hope you get better soon," said Zoe. "We'll see you tomorrow, okay? Just rest now."  
  
The group filed out slowly, but as they did, they saw Gianluca silently enter the infirmary. He didn't look at them. He didn't even acknowledge their presence. His attention was completely fixed on Arin.  
  
He walked towards her and knelt on the ground by her bed. His eyes were on her; not staring blankly like they normally were, but actually looking right at her. None of his classmates--indeed, no one who had ever known him--had ever seen him look so focused. They watched, completely stunned, as he knelt by her bed, looking at her. He was literally trembling as he watched her lying there.  
  
He leaned over and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. Then he fled the infirmary, not looking at his dumbfounded classmates. 


	3. I'll Be There For You

Part 3: I'll Be There For You  
  
"Hey Arin, what are you looking at?"  
  
Arin looked up as her best friend Zoe walked into their room. "Someone sent me a note," she explained, showing Zoe the compupad.  
  
Arin, I love you. Please go with me to the dance. From ???  
  
"Wow," Zoe said. "I wonder who it's from."  
  
"I don't know. The sender is anonymous. It's been routed through several different identities." She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. It's probably just a joke."  
  
"What makes you say that?" Zoe said, astonished.  
  
"Well, I'm not pretty or popular," Arin said quietly. "Who would want to go to the New Year's Eve dance with me?"  
  
Zoe noticed some movement from the corner of her eye. She saw a dark shape creep from the doorway, but it was gone before she could see who it was.  
  
'I wonder...' she thought.  
  
*****  
  
Zoe put her tray down at the table with a thump. Zac and Barrett looked up at her in surprise. With the exeption of the two of them and Zoe and Arin, none of the kids from their class ate lunch together.  
  
"What are you doing here?" asked Barrett.  
  
"I need to talk to you guys. Scram," she told the other boys at the table.  
  
Obediently, they stood up with their trays. Zoe wasn't particularly impressive physically, but she was wiry and tough, and none of them wanted to get on her bad side, especially when she was as determined as she was now.  
  
"Okay, you've cleared out our friends," Zac said irritatedly. "What do you want?"  
  
"Just a second." She scanned the room for a moment before standing up, cupping her hands around her mouth, and yelling, "Rich, come here!"  
  
Rich's eyes narrowed at her. Normally he would have ignored her, but she seemed particularly focused today. He walked over, ignoring the whistles and catcalls that followed from his friends.  
  
"Okay, what's up?" Zac repeated. "Unless you're waiting for Arina and Gianluca too. Speaking of which, where is Arin?"  
  
"She's in the library. And no, we don't need to wait for them. It's kind of about them." She took a deep breath. "Arin would kill me for telling you guys this, but she got a message today. An anonymous message. Asking her to the dance."  
  
"Big deal," Rich scoffed. "Who cares?"  
  
"Who could have sent it, though? I mean, who has the knowledge to send a message without the automatic sender's address popping up?"  
  
Barrett shrugged. "No one, unless...you mean Gianluca sent it?" he asked incredulously. "Gianluca asked her to the dance?"  
  
"Think about it, though," Zoe insisted. "I mean, we saw him *kiss* her. I hacked into the main computer--"  
  
"Oh wonderful, now we're all going to be expelled," Rich groaned.  
  
"--and I managed to find his file," Zoe continued, ignoring Rich.  
  
"What did you find?" Zac asked.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Nothing? I know I'm not an experienced hacker like you, Zoe," Barrett said, "but come on. Shouldn't you have been able to get into his files?"  
  
"It's not that," she explained. "His information is all classified."  
  
The kids were stunned. Classified information was things like military positions and weapon's information, not someone's name and birthday.  
  
"So you didn't get anything?" asked Zac.  
  
"I only got one thing. The only things that weren't classified were basic information: height, weight, home, etc. Except he doesn't have a home address. It's blank. That made me curious, so I started looking through the general info file for stuff about him before he came here. All I could find was a previous address, which is a psychology clinic in New York."  
  
"Weird," Barrett commented. "Why would he live in a psych clinic?"  
  
"Maybe he's crazy," suggested Rich.  
  
"Oh come one," scoffed Zac. "He's kind of weird, but he's not crazy."  
  
"Well, whatever the explanation is," Zoe said, "we need to get to the bottom of this." Seeing Rich's incredulous expression, she continued, "Come on! He's in our class. We're supposed to work together. How can we do that if we don't know anything about him?"  
  
"Zoe's right," Barrett said. "We need to try to get to know him. For better or for worse, we're a team."  
  
"Then it's settled," Zac said. "When class starts, we'll start getting to know Gianluca."  
  
*****  
  
But after lunch, when they went to class, Gianluca continued to ignore them. They tried to talk to him, but all they got was a glare from Commander Collins and an admonition to be quiet and listen for once.  
  
After class he left before they could talk to him.  
  
"It's like he's avoiding us," Barrett commented.  
  
"Maybe he is," offered Zoe. "Maybe he's embarrassed about the note."  
  
Just then, Arin walked over to them, her eyes shining. "You guys," she exclaimed, "I got another note."  
  
Arin, You are the most perfect person I have ever met. Please go with me to the New Year's Eve Dance. I love you. From ???  
  
"It's so romantic! You don't think it's a joke, do you?" she asked, worry evident on her face.  
  
"Of course not," Zoe said. "I just wonder who it's from."  
  
Arin was looking down at her compupad, so she missed the look that the others shared. "Well, whoever it is, I hope he tells me soon. I'm leaving soon."  
  
"Where are you going?" asked Rich.  
  
"I'm going back to Luna Colony to visit my parents. They were so worried after the thing on our survival mission that I promised to come and see them during the winter break."  
  
"When are you coming back?" Zoe asked.  
  
"Oh, I won't be gone long. I'll be back on New Year's Eve."  
  
"Have fun," Zoe said.  
  
"Thanks." Arin smiled. "I have to go pack. I'm leaving tonight. I promised my parents that I would leave right after our final exams."  
  
Once she left, Zoe turned to the others. "This is perfect. Arin will be gone until the dance. We have plenty of time to confront Gianluca."  
  
"Why do we even need to?" Rich asked. "I mean, if he wants to go out with her, that's his business."  
  
"Something's wrong with him," Zoe insisted. "I've never even seen him acknowledge that other people are around, and then suddenly he's kissing Arin and sending her love notes."  
  
"Maybe you're right," Zac said. "He is acting differently. Why don't we drop off our stuff, and then we can go find him."  
  
But when they reached the boys' room, all of his things were gone. Not that he had a lot of stuff, but the things that he had brought to the Starcademy--some clothes and a compupad--were gone.  
  
"Where could he be?" asked Barrett.  
  
The four students ran out of the room and straight into Commander Collins.  
  
"Commander, where is Gianluca?" asked Zac.  
  
"I don't know," she said. She punched some buttons on her compupad. "It says that he went back to New York for the break."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
They ducked back into the boys' room. "So now what do we do?" asked Rich.  
  
"We can go down and see him on Earth," Zoe said eagerly. "None of us were planning on going home, right?"  
  
The others shook their heads. They only had a week during which to go home, so most students decided to just stay at school.  
  
"Great. Then let's go. I'm from New York, so we can say that we're going to visit my family."  
  
Barrett looked at Zac for confirmation. He nodded. "We have to do this," Zac said. "We need to talk to him. We're a team, and if something is going on with him, then it affects all of us."  
  
*****  
  
Thanks to Zoe's expert knowledge of New York, they easily found the Greenwood Psychiatric Clinic. Getting in proved to be no problem either. As soon as they said that they wanted to see Gianluca, a young woman let them in.  
  
"Come in," she said with a smile. "You must be his friends."  
  
The others exchanged a look. "Um, yeah, we are," said Barrett.  
  
"We really need to see him," added Zoe.  
  
"First I need to talk to you." Her smile evaporated, replaced by a much more serious expression. "How much do you know about Gianluca?"  
  
"Not much," Zac admitted.  
  
"I thought so." She paused before continuing. "This is a long story, but I think that you need to hear it." She had led them to her office, and she sat down, gesturing for them to do the same.  
  
"I'm sure that you have heard of Astro Industries, the computer company. Well, many years ago a young couple owned it. They were extremely wealthy, and they lived in a beautiful apartment and went to all of the best parties.  
  
"Then one day they died in a hovercar accident. They had no close relatives, and so dozens of people fought over who would inherit the fortune. The case lasted several years before they finally reached an agreement.  
  
"For the first time in two years, their apartment was opened. And, to everyone's shock, they found, hidden away in a room at the back, a five-year-old boy." She stopped for a moment before continuing. "He had been alone in their for two years. The room was filled with machines to dispense food and water, so his physical needs were met, but he had not seen another human being in two years.  
  
"No one knew what to do with him. They finally managed to track down a record of his birth. It wasn't much, just a record of a baby boy born in New York whose fingerprints matched the boy's. Beyond that, though, no one knew what to do with him, especially because he wouldn't talk. He was fine physically, but he simply refused to talk. So they gave him to us.  
  
"He lived here until he left for the Starcademy, so that would be...let's see, about eleven years. During that time, he never talked. He never looked at us. He never touched us, and he never wanted to be touched. We took care of him as best as we could, though. We tested him, and his IQ was off the charts. We gave him a compupad so that he could learn how to read and write, and he just kind of went off on his own. He studies everything that he can get his hands on. And he's an excellent engineerer. He just seemed to live in his own world...until he arrived here yesterday."  
  
"What do you mean?" Zoe asked.  
  
She smiled. "He *talked*. He talked to us. I couldn't believe it. He's very upset. He's been in his room since yesterday, sitting very still staring at the wall. But he talked to us."  
  
"What did he say?" asked Barrett.  
  
"When we saw him, we asked him why he was there. He hadn't told us that he was coming. We didn't expect him to answer, but he did. He said, 'I need help. I need my friends.' We didn't know who he meant by his friends, but then you showed up." She smiled at them.  
  
"We're glad to help in any way that we can," Zac said. The others nodded their agreement.  
  
"Good. Let's go. I'll show you to his room."  
  
As they walked down the hall, Zac asked, "I don't understand one thing. How could his parents hide his existence? Was it some kind of conspiracy?"  
  
"I don't know. When you're rich enough, I guess you can pretty much do what you want. The records were there; they just lacked a lot of information, like his parents, where they lived, and things like that. My guess is that someone must have helped them to falsify the records."  
  
Zac looked grim, probably, Zoe thought, thinking about his brother. She realized how little her classmates knew about each other. They always ignored each other outside of class. She looked at Barrett and Rich, and she wondered about them. What were their secrets? And what about Arin? They truly were strangers, and for the first time, Zoe realized that she did not want them to be.  
  
*****  
  
When they reached his room, Gianluca was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring blankly into space. No, Zac thought, not blankly. He was looking at them. His eyes were dark, like looking into a black hole, but Zac could detect humanity in them. Was it fear? Sadness? Something was radiating out of his dark eyes, but Zac couldn't tell what it was.  
  
"Hi Gianluca," Zoe said.  
  
"Hi."  
  
It was such a small thing, that one whispered syllable, but it stunned his classmates.  
  
"How are you?" asked Zac.  
  
No answer. But Gianluca didn't look like he was on another planet like normal. Instead he looked withdrawn, as though he were trying to hide from them.  
  
"We wanted to be sure that you were okay," Rich explained. "So are you?"  
  
"Wh-where is Arin?" He looked alarmed.  
  
"She's at home on Luna Colony," Zoe told him.  
  
Gianluca seemed to relax. "Good."  
  
"Don't you want to see her?" Zoe asked.  
  
"No-not now. Not here. Not like this." His eyes scanned his room, so bare of any personal items. It looked kind of like a hospital room, only without the medical equipment. It had the same sterile, impersonal feeling, though.  
  
"Um, Arin got some notes asking her to the dance," Barrett said. "Do you know who sent them to her?"  
  
He nodded. "I did." He seemed to be struggling within. "I love her," he said, so softly that the others barely heard him.  
  
"She likes you too," Zoe said.  
  
"She does?"  
  
"Yeah." Zoe seemed surprised. "Why did you think that she kept talking to you, even though you ignored her?"  
  
Gianluca shook his head. "I heard her. I was scared."  
  
"Of what?" Zac asked.  
  
"I want her to like me. But it-it is hard for me to-to talk to people. It is so much easier to be alone. But with other people, it is harder."  
  
"What's harder?" Barrett wanted to know.  
  
"This. Talking. I understand things. Computers. Words. Not people. Not feelings."  
  
"It is hard for you to understand what we mean when we say things," Rich said.  
  
"Yes." Gianluca's soft monotone grew slightly louder. "I understand words, but they have so many meanings. And it is not only talking. People touch each other. They look at each other. All of these things have meaning. I do not understand them."  
  
"It's okay," Zoe said. "The doctor told us about your parents."  
  
Gianluca stiffened.  
  
"Do you remember them?" Barrett prodded.  
  
"Yes. I remember they were gone a lot. I had to stay in the room. I could not leave. They hated me. Then they stopped coming to see me. I was alone. The machines did things. They gave me food and water. Then people came. I was surrounded." Gianluca's voice seemed slightly panicked. "Lots of people wanted to see me. They tested me. They asked me questions. I was scared. They were angry. They left me here." The panic receeded, replaced by the same soft monotony. "They took care of me here. I was safe."  
  
"The doctor seems to care about you a lot," Rich commented.  
  
"Do you care about me?"  
  
"Yes," Zoe said emphatically. "You are one of us, Gianluca. You are our friend. We will always take care of you and help you when you need it. That's what friends do. They help each other. They care about each other."  
  
"You are my friends. I care about you," Gianluca said.  
  
"We care about you too. We'll help you," Zac told him. "No matter what, we will always be a team. We will always help each other."  
  
Gianluca's mouth turned up slightly. For the first time in over eleven years, he smiled.  
  
*****  
  
"Oh, isn't it beautiful?" Arin gushed.  
  
Zoe smiled over her head at Rich, Zac, and Barrett. They returned her grin.  
  
"Come over here. I think I see the guys," Zoe said, steering Arin over towards them.  
  
"Hi g--" The words died in her throat as she stood face-to-face with a nervously smiling Gianluca.  
  
The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Both of them were very dressed up; Arin wore a silvery dress that matched her eyes, and Gianluca wore a tuxedo. (They had bought it last night, when Zoe realized that he had nothing to wear to the dance.) Arin appeared totally dumbstruck. Gianluca simply looked shocked and nervously happy.  
  
"Hello, Arin. Would you like to dance?"  
  
She just stared at him. "Yes. I'd love to."  
  
The two of them stepped out onto the dance floor.  
  
"They look cute together," Zoe commented.  
  
"Who would've thought that Gianluca would be the only one of us to get a date?" asked Rich.  
  
Zoe thought about that for a moment. "Okay, Rich. Do you want to dance?"  
  
For the first time since they had met him, Rich appeared speechless. "Sure," he said.  
  
"Well, I guess that leaves you and me," Barrett said.  
  
"Yeah. Well, think of all that we did this week," commented Zac. "We helped Gianluca all week. No wonder we didn't have time to get dates."  
  
"We made a new friend, though."  
  
"Not just that," Zac said. "We got to know Zoe and Rich better too. Pretty soon we'll be as good friends as the old Space Cases--you know, Harlan Band and Catalina and them."  
  
"Well, it took getting lost in the White Circle to make them friends. A camping trip and a mental breakdown are pretty tame in comparison."  
  
"Maybe there's something about being Space Cases that binds people together."  
  
"Do you really believe that? That's kind of a weird way to make friends."  
  
Zac shrugged. "Before, no, but now..."  
  
The two looked out at their friends, so happily dancing and laughing. When they had first been assigned to be in the same class, they had been upset, angry, and wary of each other. At least for tonight, though, they were friends. 


End file.
